The Skolney Blog

1984: The mantra for years was that, when it came to the Star Trek film franchise, the odd ones were bad, and the even ones were good. Nah, sorry, for me that idea never held any water. Because of Star Trek 3. A direct sequel to the beloved Wrath Of Khan, the film picks up with the Enterprise returning home after the battle that concluded that film. The ship is beat up, the crew is still grieving Spock, and McCoy is having weird after effects of the mind-meld he had with Spock before he died. Eventually, the crew has to go against orders and return to the Genesis planet to save McCoy, and possibly bring Spock back. The first third or so of the film is a little slow, but the thing really starts rolling during the sequence of Kirk and co. stealing the Enterprise. I think this is one of my favorites in the whole franchise. The return trip brings the Enterprise into conflict with a Klingon leader played by a sneering Christopher Lloyd, and also both Kirk's son David and the...

In theaters: YOUNG WOMAN AND THE SEA Maybe the biggest surprise of the year so far. I saw it just cause of Daisy Ridley (the thought "god she is so cute" entered my mind many times watching this), who plays the 1st woman to ever swim the English Channel. It's from Disney, who here dip back into their inspiring true story sports movie formula, and quite well. The movie is way better than Nyad, cause here the lead is actually someone to root for. Ridley is phenomenal here, super endearing and plucky. And I liked how a few of the supporting figures in the movie skirted cliche. There are a few elements that certainly feel like movie manipulation, and yeah, a couple of things didn't happen exactly as depicted, but it works for the movie.  INSIDE OUT 2 This Pixar sequel is the year's biggest smash hit by far, and it is well deserved. The original movie is maybe top 5 Pixar, and this is a more than worthy follow-up. Still packed with heart and fun visuals. Still quite fu...

Lynx 81 Sparks 76 The Minnesota Lynx were not at their best on Friday night. In fact, they looked for a while to be heading towards their first clunker loss of the season.  But that didn't happen. Because Napheesa Collier basically just decided it wouldn't. Lynx offense was way off for most of the first half. Lots of one and done possessions. The Sparks were often gashing the Lynx on defense, and the lead got as high as 12 late in the half. That's when Phee put her foot down. She was not going to have any more of this. She led a late run to close the deficit to a manageable 5 at the half. Then after halftime, as the Lynx team defense really turned up the intensity, it was Phee leading the way here too. And Courtney Williams joined in on the fun too, notching a double-double. Alanna Smith and Bridget Carleton contributed. Kind of a rough game for the red hot Kayla McBride, who may have been feeling the pressure from me wearing her jersey to a game for the first time. The Lyn...

Twins 5 Rockies 0 Okay, I'm in the win column.  The Twins lost the first 2 games I went to this season, and both in rather hapless fashion, so I was a little concerned I might not see a win all year. I don't go often enough where seeing a few wins is guaranteed.  Plus the Twins have been manically up and down this year. A hot stretch will immediately be followed by a big losing streak, and vice versa.  Fortunately they had just ended a losing streak at the end of the last road trip, so formula dictates an upswing.  I wouldn't call Monday night's homestand opener a great triumph, but a win is a win. Facing the lowly Rockies and some pitcher named Dakota Hudson, the Twins struggling offense again looked pretty putrid early. But they did manage to use a Manny Margot double and Christian Vazquez sac fly to get a run, and then an inning later Carlos Correa doubled home Royce Lewis for another.  The Rockies lineup, despite the presence of former Twins legend Jake Cave...

Bad Boys will be 30 years old next year, and you can bet I will wax nostalgic about it in a big way. It is an elite example of the action comedy genre, and as an add-on, launched the career of Michael Bay and solidified the rising stardom of Will Smith and the then first-billed Martin Lawrence. Years later, we got Bad Boys 2. I wasn't quite as high on this one, mostly for plot reasons, but the action and comedy still worked. Then, back in early 2020, before hell arrived in its many forms, we got another entry, Bad Boys For Life. At the time, I was fairly disappointed in it. Bay didn't direct, and it just didn't feel right. I rewatched it just as a refresher recently, and it was worse than I remember. Way too little comedy, nothing too memorable in the action, and the main plot and villain was just bad. That movie still, thanks to COVID, wound up being 2020's top grosser, so we were always going to get a #4.  I wish we hadn't. Bad Boys: Ride Or Die is genuinely, stun...

In Theaters: THE FALL GUY The 2024 summer kickoff movie is one of those flicks that feels engineered to be a cable staple. Some action, a few laughs, but nothing truly memorable. Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt turn the charm up to 11, but they aren't given much to work with. Fittingly for a movie centered on a stuntman, the film has good action and stunts.  KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES The perennially underrated rebooted Apes franchise returns with a 4th installment that jumps ahead "many generations" to a time when Caesar has become more of a legend than anything. And his teachings are being twisted by a radical new wannabe dictator, who has plans to enslave apes and wipe out remaining humans. So yeah, basically, Christian fundamentalists. It's a strong metaphor, and a cool idea to base a film on. The new ape characters are led by Noah, who has the hero's journey, which brings him into contact and maybe alliance with a human (cute Freya Allen). I probably plac...

1994: Many directors wind up doing their own autobiographical film somewhere along the way. They usually don't have grand, cinema-changing ambitions. They just exist to tell a small story that really matters to them.  One of my favorites of this type is Spike Lee's Crooklyn. This was a big deal movie to me at the time. I had very much gotten into films from black filmmakers by now, and I am pretty sure I had seen all of the films of Lee's. He was firmly one of my favorite directors. But Crooklyn marked my first in-theater Lee film, so this was a big deal. And in 1994, the arrival of a new Spike Lee joint was still a big deal in the culture. He was coming off of Malcolm X, when he was arguably at the peak of his importance. So what a pivot, to go from a very provocative and political film, to this nice little movie Crooklyn. And this film is like nothing Lee ever made. It IS nice. There's conflict, sure, but it's nothing too serious.  Set in the early 70s...